Upon completion of the acquisition, RAS's U.S. operation will operate under Spacenet Integrated Government Solutions (SIGS), a U.S.-based subsidiary of Gilat, focused on meeting the needs of the government satellite communications market. RAS's international business will operate as a separate entity belonging to Gilat's worldwide operations and will continue to be managed by its current management. The acquisition is not expected to have a significant effect on Gilat's 2010 outlook with respect to earnings. The closing of the transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
The acquisition of RAS represents a milestone in Gilat's previously announced strategy to expand its business in the DoD and other defense markets. RAS is a market leader in providing low profile and light-weight antennas and complete system solutions to the rapidly growing SARCOM On The Move market. Low profile antennas are critical in meeting the stringent requirements of the U.S. DoD and other government and military markets around the globe. RAS products are modem agnostic and can work in a variety of network architectures. RAS ALSO has a diverse global customer base, which includes the civil defense sectors such as first responders, emergency response, police departments and state and local government agencies. With synergistic customer bases, RAS and Gilat expect to leverage each other's sales reach to further augment their market position. The RAS acquisition is strategically in line with Gilat’s recent introduction of its Spacenet Integrated Government Solutions (SIGS) division, headed by Susan Miller. SIGS was created specifically to provide fully integrated end-to-end communications solutions that meet and exceed the mission-critical needs of the Defense, Intelligence, Homeland Security, Public Safety, Federal and Civilian Government agencies. RAS already works with customers in these markets, including the U.S. DoD as well as integrators and service providers in the U.S. and internationally.
“RAS is a very exciting addition to the Gilat business," said Amiram Levinberg, Chairman and CEO of Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. "With this acquisition, we plan to bring together two innovative leaders in the industry with complementary technologies. We believe that this partnership will lead to a new level of high speed, highly mobile communications for the military, emergency response organizations, and other markets with a need for fast, flexible, on the move communications. We look forward to addressing new opportunities with RAS in the government and military markets. We also look forward to broadening our scope in these markets by investing in additional opportunities as they arise."
Upon closing of the acquisition, David Gross, CEO of RAS, with over 40 years of experience in the U.S. defense industry — co-founder and former President of a leading defense company, DRS Technologies — will join Gilat's Spacenet Integrated Government Solutions', (SIGS) management team in the U.S. and will continue to focus on expanding the presence of RAS and SIGS in the U.S. DoD market. Commenting on the acquisition, David Gross said, “Enabling the cost effective transfer of real-time broadband data, voice and video, to and from moving vehicles via satellite is critical to the evolving strategy of the U.S. military. The combination of RAS's Satcom On The Move expertise and Spacenet's extensive broadband satellite networking experience will provide customers with optimal value and robust solutions to address the needs of this expanding market."